


Designated Hitter

by Ultra



Category: My Boys (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Conversations, Best Friends, Boys Being Boys, Boys Will Be Boys, Cousins, Crushes, F/M, Family, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Matchmaking, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-15
Updated: 2010-04-15
Packaged: 2019-07-10 18:49:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15955340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: PJ and Brando have been best friends for so long, they never really seriously thought about taking the next step together into romance. Enter PJ's cousin, Debbie, the girl who will make them open their eyes.





	1. New Player

“...so then she said she was coming to visit,” explained PJ as she collected up the deck of cards and prepared to shuffle and deal another hand.

She spoke of her Cousin Debbie, who she hadn’t seen in years, but had suddenly called her out of the blue with a line about how it had been too long and they really needed to catch up. The boys seemed interested in hearing more about the mystery relative, who as yet had never been mentioned.

“I have two important questions,” said Mike, raising his hand as if he were in a classroom, despite the fact he was sat right next to PJ and was therefore easily heard. “One, is she hot? And two, is she single?” he asked, practically rubbing his hands together with the excitement of it all.

“Seriously, that’s what you wanted to ask?” checked Kenny before PJ even managed to open her mouth. “See, I would’ve asked; one, if she was single, and then two, is she hot?”

“Dude, what is the difference?” Mike wanted to know, looking bemused as he turned to look at his friend as PJ and Bobby watched the pair have another of their usual dumb mini-arguments.

“The difference is this, my friend,” began Kenny. “If you ask your way and find out she’s hot only to then be told she’s not single, you know you missed out. If you check for a single lady first, then the hot is worth knowing about,” he explained.

Mike seemed to run through what his friend had said, mulling it over a moment before nodding his head.

“That actually made sense,” he conceded, before turning back to PJ as she began to deal out the cards around the table. “So, is she single?”

“Guys, it doesn’t matter which way you ask.” She shook her head. “I can’t tell you if she’s hot because first she’s a girl and second she’s my cousin! As for single, she didn’t mention a boyfriend so maybe, but I didn’t actually ask.”

“Sorry I’m late, guys!” No further questions could be asked as Brando’s arrival interrupted proceedings. “But look who I ran into on the way over.” He jerked his thumb back to the door where Andy practically staggered in.

“It’s okay, I’m fine,” he said breathlessly. “I had to park so far from the building and... nevermind,” he gave up on his explanation, collapsing into an armchair as Brando flung his jacket onto the couch and joined the guys at the Poker table.

“What’d I miss?” he asked, as PJ re-dealt the cards to include him.

“Apparently, we’re going to meet another member of the Franklin clan, and Mike and Kenny are already arguing over who gets dibs on her if she’s hot and single,” explained Bobby, only to have PJ shake her head.

“Actually Debbie is my Mom’s sister’s daughter, so she’s a MacIntyre, not a Franklin,” she explained, glancing at Brando when a grin appeared on his face.

“Dee Dee’s coming to visit?” He chuckled. “Oh man, she has such a major crush on me. It is so cute!” he enthused much to PJ’s amusement.

“Dude, that was years ago!” she pointed out. “Debbie was just a kid then, she will totally have moved on by now. In fact, when I told her you were crashing here, she barely reacted.”

“Oh God, not one of Aunt Margey’s daughters!” Andy groaned as he levered himself out of the comfy chair at last and came over to the table, watching as the guys played their hand. “That side of the family certainly makes up our entire slut quota.”

“Andy!” PJ looked shocked by what he’d said but was laughing a second later. “How can you say that? Debbie was never slutty, she was always really sweet.”

“Hot, single, and slutty?” said Bobby, apparently not taking in what PJ had just said at all. “Yeah, there’s not enough cold showers in the world for what you’re doing to those two.” He chuckled as he gestured towards an open-mouthed Kenny and gasping Mike.

“You guys are so sick.” The one female at the table shook her head at the amount of base emotion and caveman behaviour surrounding her. “My cousin Debbie is a sweet kid and if you mess with her there will be consequences, you got that?” she said quite seriously.

“Peej, seriously,” said Mike with a gesture that was all innocence and surrender. “Like we’re gonna be anything but gentlemen to your sweet, sweet cousin,” he overemphasised in such a way as to make his friend feel oddly nervous. 

Still, she had to accept that whatever Neanderthal tendencies the guys had sometimes, they would be respectful and decent around her cousin. Besides, Debbie would have grown up a lot these past years, and PJ had no doubt she would have learnt to deal with guys unwanted attention if that’s what she got. Things would be cool, she told herself, though PJ felt a little less confident as she looked around the table at too many grinning faces. Sometimes the guys were such... guys!

* * *

“Thank you so much for driving me down here, Steph,” said PJ with obvious gratitude as they waited at the station for Debbie to arrive. “I would’ve asked one of the guys but they were all being so scuzzy about hitting on my cousin.”

“Hey, Peej, it is not a problem,” Stephanie assured her. “Besides, I’d love to see your little girly cousin come back into your life a while. She might actually be on my side about you wearing make up!” she declared.

“Steph.” PJ rolled her eyes as she faced her friend. “Would you just-”

“PJ?” said a voice behind her then and she turned around with a stunned look on her face as she realised the young woman stood right there behind her was her cousin Debbie.

The years really had been kind to the once cute kid, turning her into somewhat of a babe at this point. As the cousins hugged each other, Steph looked the new arrival over. She was a hottie and the guys would be crawling all over her, she could only hope that Debbie had retained half the good sense she ought to have learned at the hands of herself and PJ years ago. It would be nice to have a trouble free visit from one of the Franklin relations.

“You remember Stephanie?” PJ checked as she let go of her cousin and made introductions.

“Of course, she was practically your sister in college,” enthused Debbie as she dropped the bags she’d only just now picked up in order to hug the other woman.

“Oh, friendly,” remarked Steph, looking just a little awkward as she hugged the girl back.

“So,” said Debbie a moment later as she gathered up her things once again, “where are these boys you were telling me so much about?” she grinned, making PJ and Steph share a worried look.

Both were sure they could trust the guys not to mess Debbie around, after all, underneath all the dumb commentes and chauvinist attitudes that occasionally popped up, they were decent enough... well, except Kenny, and Mike, and sometimes Brando.

“Oh, this is not gonna end well,” said PJ to herself quietly as they climbed into Steph’s car, Debbie chattering away to her friend about clothes and make up already. “Not good in soooo many ways.”

* * *

After dropping her bags off at the hotel, and PJ apologising at least five times for her spare room being occupied for the duration of Debbie’s visit, despite her cousin telling her it was fine, the girls arrived at Crowley’s with a view to Debbie meeting ‘the guys’ as they had been referred to this whole time. Andy would not be there til later, so PJ had said, due to his being busy with work and living in the ‘burbs these days, but she would be re-introduced to Brendan, and finally meet Bobby, Mike, and Kenny about whom PJ had talked almost non-stop since her arrival.

“Do you do everything with these guys?” asked Debbie curiously as they entered the bar.

“Pretty much,” answered Steph before her friends got a chance. “It’s sad, really.”

PJ ignored them both as she headed straight for her friends at their usual table.

“Hey guys, I want you to meet my cousin Deborah MacIntyre,” she introduced, pointing to the nearside of the table first. “Debbie, this is Mike and Kenny, then we have Bobby and you probably remember Brendan.”

“Sure, yeah.” She nodded, with a smile that looked forced. “It’s good to meet you guys,” she said, sounding just a little more genuine as Mike scooched over to make room for her and Debbie joined the group at the table.

PJ moved to allow Steph to slide in beside Bobby and she grabbed a chair to be her own seat at the end of the table. She winced as she heard Mike and Kenny practically bombarding Debbie with awkward questions, and yet her cousin herself looked unphased by the attention or the things they asked. She was open, honest, and unashamed when talking about how few guys she’d dated and an appropriate balance of flirty and uninterested when suggestions were made about dates between herself and either of the guys.

“So, Dee Dee, it’s been a while,” said Brando when he could finally get a word in sideways, but Debbie glanced at him with little interest that stung him just a little.

“Nobody calls me that anymore,” she told him, rolling her eyes. “Get a clue, Brando,” she told him before going back to her conversation with Mike and Kenny, who only laughed at the way she cut him down.

PJ was less impressed and it showed on her face, though in all honesty she wondered if Debbie was just hitting out at the guy she felt had rejected her as a kid. When PJ, Brando, and Steph were in college, Debbie was just a young teen and besotted with her cousins best guy friend. Of course he liked her as a cute little sister type, but he never would’ve gone there. That had to hurt Debbie, who Brando himself had nicknamed DeeDee after his love of all things Ramones. PJ couldn’t really blame her for that, though she would of course appreciate it if her cousin would be at least civil to all her friends whilst she was staying in Chicago.

“Hey, Debs, you wanna help me fetch a another pitcher and more glasses?” she gestured to the near empty beer jug on the table as she stood up to go to the bar.

“Oh, no thanks, I’m fine.” Debbie smiled before going back to her conversation with the guys.

“I’ll help, Peej,” offered Bobby getting to his feet and going with her. “So, your cousin is... chatty,” he said conversationally as they leant on the bar together, waiting to get served. “She seems a little off with Brando though,” he noted as the guy in question tried to enter the conversation one more time before giving up and walking away to talk to Steph who was already at the other end of the bar ordering what she would call a sensible ladies drink as opposed to beer everyone else at the table was drinking.

“I know, I need to talk to her about that.” PJ sighed as she ordered another pitcher. “I was hoping she’d be a grown up about her old crush on the guy. I guess it stings some he never paid her any attention, but he should realise now how innapproriate it would’ve been. I mean she was fifteen, we were like twenty!”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He smiled, hoping to ease her worries and change the subject both as he began talking about an event he had to attend for his family.

Truth be told, PJ barely heard a word as she stared across at her cousin in animated conversation with her two womaniser friends, and then at Brando as he tried to look cheerful in talking to Stephanie. Things were already going downhill fast in her ‘team’ and she needed to do a little damage control before it got any worse.


	2. Fireballer

It got late in the evening, but the gang stayed at Crowley's enjoying themselves. PJ sat back in her seat and watched the scene before her. Mike, Kenny, Bobby, and Debbie were taking turns playing at air hockey. Andy had arrived from the ‘burbs and was sat talking with Brando and Steph, laughing now and having a good time. Still, it bugged her the way Debbie was acting. Maybe it was partly because she was taking PJ’s role in a lot of ways, and she fitted in with the guys just as well as she did. Of course, the larger part of the reason why PJ disliked Debbie’s behaviour was because she knew she’d hurt Brando’s feelings.

There was no way Brendan Dorff was perfect and it was possible that from Debbie’s point of view he didn’t handle her crush on him very well years ago. That didn’t change the fact that she was being a brat right now, making him feel bad for something that ought to be ancient history. Besides, back then Debbie was just a kid, she must realise now, looking back on those old days, that Brando never could’ve been with her the way she wanted. It would’ve been beyond inappropriate, with her being so young and all.

“We need more beer,” said Debbie suddenly, her announcement jogging PJ from her thoughtful state. “It’s fine, I’ll go. You guys play,” she urged the boys as they offered to help her fetch another pitcher.

“I’ll help,” her cousin offered, getting up from her seat, and that at least Debbie seemed willing to accept as the two women headed up to the bar.

It did not take two of them to carry a pitcher of beer, but Debbie had a feeling that for whatever reason PJ needed to talk to her, so she didn’t make a fuss. It had been years since they’d seen each other and now there was a wall of guys stood between them all the time, maybe PJ wasn’t happy about that, at least that was what her cousin assumed.

“The guys are great,” she enthused as they reached the bar and waited their turn to be served. “A little overly much with the compliments maybe, but a girl could get used to that.”

She laughed and PJ rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, they can be kinda like kids at a candy store around women they just met,” she agreed, “and I’m glad you’re having fun and getting to know my friends and all but-”

“But you and me really need to catch up,” Debbie cut in, nodding her head knowingly. “I am sorry, Peej, I meant to make this trip a chance for me to spend time with you and Andy, but tonight kinda turned into a party vibe and-”

“Hey, it’s no problem,” PJ assured her. “I’m not feeling like a spare wheel or anything, you can spend time getting to know the guys tonight, it’s fine,” she promised her. “I just, I need you to be a little nicer to Brando,” she told her, feeling awkward even having this conversation and wary of causing an upset here.

To her credit, Debbie looked almost ashamed of herself as she looked towards PJ’s best friend and sighed.

“Yeah, I guess I have been kinda cold,” she admitted. “I’m sorry, Peej, I know it’s really lame but, and I know this sounds completely dumb, I guess I’m still a little bitter about the whole crush thing.” She rolled her eyes at her own stupid behaviour. “And yes, I know, inappropriate back then and I swear I am so over it now, but I’m only human, right?” She shrugged. “The rejection still stings a little.”

“I get it, I do.” Her cousin nodded, mindful of being bumped by her fellow patrons at the bar that seemed to be many tonight. “I just don’t want bad feeling between you two. Y’know, Brendan was really happy to know you were coming to visit, and then you blow him off like you did...” She shook her head, making Debbie feel all the more bad as she gave her a disappointed look.

“I know, I know,” she said, with her hands raised in some kind of surrender, immediately putting her hands back on the bar as she was shoved aside by a woman walking by. “I’ll play nice now, I swear,” she promised, and PJ had no reason to doubt she meant what she said.

“Thank you,” she said genuinely as the two women waited their turn at the bar that seemed never to come.

“Is it always like this in here?” asked Debbie as people barged past and the few staff they could spot seemed run off their feet.

“No, not usually,” replied PJ, frowning slightly as she leaned over the bar and craned her neck. “Hey, Kevin!” she called to the guy who ran the place. “What’s goin’ on?” she asked him with a look as he promised his patrons he’d be right back and scooted down the bar to talk one of his most loyal regulars.

“Hey, PJ,” he greeted her with a forced smile. “Sorry about the wait, but short-staffed doesn’t even begin to cover,” he explained as he poured out drinks for waiting customers just as quickly as he could, trading full glasses for cash and making change from the register all in movements so fast that PJ and Debbie could barely see his hands at all. “I got two out on bereavement, one on maternity, another left to get married yesterday and ain’t comin’ back, plus three all came down with food poisoning,” he told the girls. “That leaves three people on my rosta, and only two of them showed up tonight!” he complained, doing his best to stay on top of things, shouting instructions to the staff he did have available.

“Well, can’t you get agency staff to help out?” asked PJ, but Kevin shook his head.

“They only got two people they could send, and they ain’t comin’ til next week,” he told her, before moving away down the bar.

“I can help,” he was told immediately he returned. “I’m Debbie MacIntyre, PJ’s cousin. I’ve done plenty of bar work and I’m in town for at least the next week or two,” she explained, as Kev glanced her way and then at PJ.

“Uh, well, I can’t vouch for her bar tending,” she admitted, “but I can for her character. She’s a good person, Kev, you can totally trust Debbie,” she assured the frantic boss of Crowleys who looked just about ready to lose it at any second.

He trusted PJ, he’d known her a long time, besides which he was pretty desperate for help here tonight, and probably for the next few nights, truth be told.

“When can you start, honey?” he asked Debbie with a hopeful smile.

“Right now?” she suggested with a grin of her own which only grew bigger when he nodded his head.

“You’re hired,” he declared, flipping up the section of the bar to the left of her and allowing Debbie to slide though.

PJ was kind of stunned by the turn of events but loved seeing how naturally her cousin took to the job she’d not had five minutes ago. Debbie had mentioned she tended bar at a local place whilst she worked her way through college, so it wasn’t as if she didn’t have the experience, and it had worked out almost perfectly her coming to stay right when she was needed. It was almost like fate had sent her to Chicago this particular day.

“One pitcher of beer for the lady,” said the younger blonde as she handed the jug over the bar to her cousin.

“Thanks, Debbie,” said PJ with a smile as she paid for the beer and then carried it back to the table where the guys were waiting, and apparently arguing.

“Kenny, you are completely delusional!” declared Mike. “Debbie said she liked guys with a sense of humour, so she was so clearly hitting on me!”

“Everybody knows that girls like quiet guys who listen to them, instead of constantly cracking jokes in their ear!” his friend protested. “Given the choice, Debbie would pick me over you any day of the week”

“Guys, seriously,” said PJ as she placed the pitcher down between them. “You think we can not have a huge fight over my cousin?” she suggested. “Chances are good she wouldn’t go out with either one of you.”

“Yeah, I mean credit the girl with some taste,” joked Bobby, making PJ laugh at least as she poured herself a drink. “Speaking of Debbie, did you lose her at the bar?” he asked, craning his neck to see where the girl had gone.

“I think she lost her _behind_ the bar,” said Brando as he came over to refill his glass. “Peej, why is Dee Dee on the wrong side of the bar?” he asked with a frown.

“Kev is short-handed and she offered to help out since she’s around for a couple of weeks, and she has the experience so he gave her the job on the spot.”

“That’s cool for her,” said Bobby with a nod of his head, raising his voice a little to be heard over Mike and Kenny who were still arguing the point of what women want.

Before long Brando was wading into the heated discussion and PJ and Bobby made a hasty retreat to the couch a few feet away.

“Seriously, those guys are obsessed with the perfect formula for getting a girlfriend.” PJ rolled her eyes. “Like you can even find that.”

“If there were such a thing, I think my family would be really happy,” said Bobby with a sigh.

“Okay, I’m confused.” PJ looked genuinely lost as she turned to look at him. “Did I miss something somewhere?” she checked.

“Only the entire conversation we had last week and again earlier today.” He smiled, not really hurt by her lack of interest, though PJ looked mortified at the idea she’d been ignoring a friend in need. “It’s okay, I know you’re all into what’s happening with your cousin.” He waved away her obvious concern. “It’s just my family are having this big charity event and I’m supposed to be there, and everyone is making a huge deal because I don’t have a plus one.”

“Well, that’s kinda sucky,” his friend sympathised. “You don’t have anyone you can bring along? I mean, Bobby, come on, you’re not exactly lacking in ability to get dates,” she reminded him, the smile on her face genuine enough it seemed, after all, she’d been into him at one time, proving she found him at least somewhat attractive.

“It’s not that,” he assured her, picking up his beer and taking a drink. “I just don’t want to show up with some random girl who I barely know in front of my entire family.”

“Okay, easy fix.” PJ nodded once. “How about I be your date? At least that way you won’t be alone, the numbers will tally for the seating chart, and when we get bored we can hide behind the buffet table and talk baseball.” She smiled.

“You’d do that for me?” he asked, a little surprised at the offer but mostly just relieved that he wouldn’t have to attend this event as a first date with a woman he barely knew, or worse go it alone.

“Sure, what are friends for?” said PJ with a smile, making Bobby wonder if she really meant for them to be just friends after all.

* * *

It was getting late, really late and Crowleys had almost completely emptied out. The guys were finishing up their drinks and talking about going home to bed after a fun Friday night at the bar with their friends. They moved towards the door as a group, Mike promising he’d make sure Stephanie got home safe in the dark and both Kenny and Bobby offering to walk with PJ.

“I can’t go guys, I have to wait for Debbie,” she told them, realising her cousin was still helping clean up behind the bar and everything. “I don’t want her wandering around in the dark by herself either,” she insisted.

Kenny and Bobby looked at each other then at PJ and back, about to have some kind of awkward conversation about who should stay and who should go, or if they should both stay perhaps.

“It’s cool, guys,” said Brando, as he walked up, finishing off his beer. “I’ll wait with them, I’m staying at PJ's anyway and the hotel is on our way,” he said easily, just as PJ herself let out a huge yawn from her place on a stool by the bar still.

“Oh, cous, you should go home,” said Debbie as she spotted said yawn. “Go with the guys, Brando can walk me when I’m done here.” She smiled, much to the surprise of both PJ and Brendan himself.

“Are you sure?” she checked, looking between the two of them, not sure she understood Debbie’s sudden one-eighty.

Sure, she’d promised to be nicer to Brendan now, but the question became how nice was she planning on being? PJ felt a little nauseous as she realised it was completely possible for Debbie to want to revert to her old opinion of Brando, and that was something that didn’t sit well with her at all. PJ honestly didn’t know why she should care if her cousin and her best guy friend ended up as a couple, and so she shook her head, put on a smile, and let the whole thing go.

“Okay,” she found herself agreeing and walking away with Kenny and Bobby, waving goodbye as she went.

“So, first off,” said Debbie the moment she was alone with Brendan and he pulled himself up on a bar stool to wait for her, “I was a total bitch to you today, and I’m sorry,” she said sincerely, surprising Brando more with that than she even had with her bad attitude towards him.

“Okay,” he said, nodding slowly. “I gotta admit, kinda hurt,” he told her, moving his almost empty beer glass around on the bartop. “I thought we were always friends, Dee Dee. Sorry, Debbie,” he amended, making her groan.

“Oh, don’t do that,” she urged him. “You know I always loved that you had a special nickname for me.” She smiled genuinely. “I just said that before because... well, because I was being a brat, I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders, wiping down the bartop with the cloth in her hand. “You know I had that huge crush on you back in the day and I guess making you suffer kind of appealed, even thought you totally don’t deserve that because you were always a real sweetheart to me.”

Brando wasn’t quite sure how to take that but smiled at the sentiment at least. Debbie was always a sweet kid, and now she’d grown up into a more than decent looking woman. If she still liked him now as much as she had then, he could easily see them going on a date, and he intended to tell her so.

“Well, you’re not a kid anymore,” he said, giving her a look that spoke more than a few words.

Debbie stopped and stared, thought about it for a whole three seconds before shaking her head and continuing with her work.

“Nope, can’t do it,” she said eventually, making Brendan frown some as he had no clue what the problem was, thankfully she went on to explain. “See, what I didn’t get as a teen was that you had two reasons not to date me, and they both became real clear when I got older,” she said, as she rounded the bar and came over to clear the tables behind him, Brando spinning the stool around to face her as she continued. “I was too young for you, obviously, a five year age gap is nothing when you’re older, but fifteen and twenty? Major-ass difference!” she declared the obvious as she gathered up glasses and headed back behind the bar, Brando spinning once again to keep up with her. “Then I realised that even if I’d’ve been four or five years older, you still wouldn’t have chosen me.”

“How do you know that? You can’t say that,” he told her definitely.

Debbie only laughed.

“What?”

“Get a clue, Brando!” she told him with a chuckle. “I may be built in a similar mould, but I’m not PJ, and no other girl is ever going to be good enough for you.”

With that she walked away down the bar, not giving Brendan a chance to argue with her. Of course, he wanted to because she was talking crazy. He and PJ were best friends, they had been for years now, but they were never a couple. Well, there was that one time when they made out on college, and that other time when they made out a couple of weeks ago, but it didn’t mean anything...

“You’re crazy,” he told Debbie a little too forcefully when she returned to him, pulling on her coat - clearly the boss had said she’d done enough for tonight and could leave.

“Really?” Debbie checked with a sly smile. “Brendan Dorff you look me in the eye and tell me that when you imagine your perfect future, PJ isn’t right there next to you.”

He stood before her then, fixed her with a definite stare and opened his mouth to say the words she seemed to think would be so hard for him to say, and they wouldn’t come.

“Yep, that’s what I thought.” Debbie nodded with satisfaction, patting him on the chest as she walked by to the door. “Let’s go PJ Lover,” she teased him.

Brando went after her, still feeling stunned, and yet almost relieved that somebody else seemed to have noticed something between him and his best friend. He’d tried to deny it, he figured the guys wouldn’t understand, that it was just him feeling this, but he’d never thought about the fact he might be wrong til now.

“Hey, Debbie,” he asked as they walked along. “If you’re so sure that I’m, like, in love with PJ or something, do you-?”

“Think she loves you too?” she filled in for him already sure of what his question would be as she pulled her coat tighter around her against the chill of the night air. “Brando, ask yourself these two simple questions; first, how many relationships has PJ had that worked out well? And second, who does she always run to when they go wrong?”

She didn’t say anything else, just watched the obvious cogs turning in Brando’s brain as he thought hard on what she’d just asked him. He had to see the truth, and the shocked expression on his face as he did so seemed to prove it was the first time he’d allowed himself to wonder on two very important points. Now it would most likely be all he could think about!


	3. Double Switch

It was Poker Night and the usual gang were all assembled, well, almost anyway.

“Is Brendan hiding in his room or what?” asked Mike as he glanced around the table and realised they were a man down.

“No,” said PJ with a shake of her head, shuffling a deck of cards thoughtfully. “I actually don’t know where he is. I’ve hardly seen him these past few days.”

“Y’know, he has been acting a little strange,” agreed Bobby. “A little awkward and stuff, maybe?”

“I’m gonna call him,” said PJ suddenly as she got up from the table and began to dial. “We can’t start without him, or without Debbie,” she added as she walked away.

“Debbie’s coming? Alright!” said Mike looking overly excited. “This is sooo going to help my side of the bet!”

“You guys are making bets? About my cousin?” asked Andy, looking unimpressed as he glanced around the other guys at the table.

“Hey, not me, man,” Bobby told him, hands held up in surrender. “It’s these two you wanna be fixing with that glaring hairy eyeball look,” he gestured towards the others.

“It’s not like it sounds,” said Kenny, attempting to placate his friend. “Mike and I just have different opinions on what a woman looks for in a guy to date,” he explained, “and so, we’re kind of performing a little experiment.”

“Yeah, see, I’m trying to get Debbie using my sense of humour,” Mike picked up the explanation. “Kenny thinks he’ll do better being Mr Sensitive and listening to her talk.” He made a face and a gesture with his hand that suggested that opinion was entirely the dumbest thing he ever heard.

“So, you’re both trying different ways of being nice to my cousin, and then what?” asked Andy, not really seeing the point of any of this, although glad that they weren’t so much screwing around with his younger relation as he first thought.

“Then, Friday night, we both ask her out, she chooses between us, and boom!” said Mike with a clap of his hands. “I am proven to be so much better than Kenny.”

“Like that’ll ever happen.” His friend rolled his eyes, just as Debbie walked in.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” she asked as she came over to the table, waving to PJ who was still on the phone as she passed her by.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” said Mike quickly, mindful of the fact they’d just been talking about her a second before.

“Okaaay.” The word came out long and with a slight tone of disbelief. “Who’s PJ calling?” she checked.

“Er, Brando,” Bobby explained. “He didn’t show yet.”

Debbie frowned at that and opened her mouth to say something else just as PJ threw the phone into the couch cushions and returned to the Poker table, sitting down hard in her seat.

“What’s up, cous?” she was asked by Debbie who looked genuinely concerned, understandable since PJ’s expression was much less than happy.

“Brando didn’t answer when I called,” she explained, “but then I found a message from him. He’s moving out,” she said as she began to deal the cards.

“Moving out?” echoed Bobby, with a look. “Isn’t that a little weird that he didn’t tell us himself? And that he didn’t need any help like moving stuff or anything?”

“He said he’s coming back for most of his stuff tomorrow.” PJ sighed. “I don’t know what’s going on and right now I don’t care,” she told her friends as well as herself, though it was obvious she was way more upset about this than she was saying, even to an unobservant guy like Mike.

“Peej, are you sure you’re okay?” he asked carefully, though not carefully enough apparently as she practically bit his head off when she replied.

“I’m fine,” she snapped. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Exactly, why wouldn’t you be?” Andy agreed with her, not really understanding this, but knowing from experience of both his sister and his wife that when a woman said she was fine, even when it was obvious she wasn’t, you just let it go if you wanted to keep all your appendages.

Debbie glanced from the cards she held to PJ, then Bobby, around the table and back to her lousy hand. This wasn’t quite how she’d expected tonight to go, in fact this whole trip wasn’t really what she’d envisaged from the start. It was amazing to her that PJ and Brando were still playing at just being friends after all these years. What stunned her even more was that, despite having his feelings pointed out to him by Debbie herself, he still didn’t know what to do with them. As for PJ, she was clearly upset by her best friend’s behaviour, and yet she couldn’t admit to any of it.

For two people who had hit adulthood years before Debbie had, she couldn’t believe how childish they were acting. Somebody needed to do something about it, before it was too late.

“Debbie!” her attention was called for when she did not take her turn. “In or out?”

“Oh, I am so definitely in,” she assured the group, though nobody knew she was not so much talking about the poker game.

* * *

As the hour got late, the guys all began to leave. Debbie offered to stay behind and help clean up, after all she could stay at PJ’s the night seeing as Brando was otherwhere.

As the boys went out the door, Bobby called back to PJ;

“I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow night, okay?” he checked.

“You got it.” PJ smiled in response, before turning away as the door closed and moving over to the table to clean up.

“PJ,” said Debbie as she walked over, perching on the edge of the couch as she watched her cousin buzz around. “What are you doing?” she asked, arms folded over her chest and an expression that suggested she was being overly serious about something.

“Er, cleaning up after Poker Night?” she replied with an amused smile, her tone suggesting she found that question particularly dumb.

“Yeah, so not what I meant,” her cousin replied as she got up and followed PJ through to the kitchen, both of them carrying empty beer bottles and bowls that were once full with chips. “I’m talking about you and Bobby, and more than that, about you and Brando,” she said, putting the things that filled her hands down on one counter top and hopping up to sit on the opposite side, whilst PJ sorted items between the dishwasher and the trash.

“Huh, Brando who didn’t even show up for poker, that Brando?” she said cuttingly, apparently hurt by her best friend’s behaviour, despite the fact that all he was really guilty of was living his life.

“Yeah, that’s real grown up, Peej.” Debbie rolled her eyes at the comment. “C’mon, we both know you should not be this pissed just because Brendan missed a poker game and finally got his own place to crash,” she reasoned.

PJ looked up from what she was doing, standing straight and sighing heavily. She knew her cousin was right. She had this feeling niggling at her for days now, ever since Debbie came visiting actually. Her cousin and her best friend; they got along well, that much was obvious, and given both Debbie’s old crush and Brando’s eye for the ladies, it made total sense that they would get close. Still, PJ couldn’t help but feel weird about it, and she was pretty sure Brendan did too since he’d barely talked to her these past few days.

“I don’t know, it’s just... lately he’s been acting weird around me,” she said, knowing that was only half the truth but it was the best she could do for now.

“Weird how?” checked Debbie, almost wincing as if she were pained by those words.

“Like he just doesn’t want to be in the same room as me,” PJ explained her tone both sad and exasperated at the same time, “or he doesn’t know how to talk to me or...” she stopped when the pained look on her cousin’s face only grew more strange. “Debbie, what is that look for?” she asked her, as the younger woman hopped down off the counter and grabbed her by the hand.

“Okay, come sit down,” she urged PJ, dragging her through to the living room and parking them both down on the couch. “It’s time for confession corner,” she said, taking a breath, but before she had a chance to say anymore, PJ jumped in.

“Oh my God, you two did hook up!” she gasped, but not half so much as Debbie did at the sound of those words.

“PJ! Of course not!” she said, looking shocked, a hand over her heart in dramatic style. “How could you even say that?”

“C’mon, Debs.” PJ rolled her eyes, unable to believe she could really be as stunned as she looked. “That huge crush you had on him?”

“So over it!” she was told indignantly by the other blonde, almost falling off the couch she was currently propped on, sideways and cross-legged. “Was nobody listening when I said that?” she asked mostly rhetorically, before explaining what was really going on to her cousin who was clearly in the dark. “Look, me and Brendan got talking the other night at Crowley's and I might have pointed out that you two were meant to be together.” She shrugged innocently, sure she had done the right thing.

The look on PJ’s face suggested she thought otherwise. In fact, Debbie was pretty sure that particular expression meant her older cousin thought she was in need of a straight jacket and a padded room!

“Debbie, that is the single craziest thing you have ever said to me,” she swore, pointing a finger when she continued, “and I’m including the time when we were kids and you told me you were gonna marry either Marky Mark or a member of the Funky Bunch!” she said with a laugh that would not stay in.

She moved to get off the couch and walk away, but Debbie wouldn’t let her wriggle out of it that easily, grabbing her arm and using the momentum to practically throw her back down into her seat.

“PJ, be serious!” she urged her.

“I am being serious!” she said definitely, slapping her hands against her legs in exasperation. “Debbie, you know me and Brendan are best friends, and sure we had that thing in college for like an hour but that’s it,” she said definitely, making a cutting motion with her hand, and then turning to move away. “Oh yeah” she snapped her fingers, and sat back down, “and then we got talking about that night a couple of months ago and there was another kiss, but...” she said somewhat awkwardly.

“Would you listen to yourself?” interrupted Debbie, playfully shoving PJ in the shoulder. “The way you are with Brendan, it is so different to all your other guy friends,” she told her, making her cousin think as she’d intended to do. “He knows it’s different, and deep down, you do too,” she said definitely, determined not to be beaten on this.

Honestly, when she arrived here, she’d half expected the two of them to be a happy couple by now. At the very least, she thought they would’ve given romance a shot at some point. Seems they’d brushed a couple of steamy moments under the rug and pretended like friends was all that they wanted. Debbie couldn’t believe for a moment that was the truth.

PJ looked thoughtful for a long moment, and honestly she really did have to consider the facts Debbie was laying before her. When she thought on how she acted around Brendan, she couldn’t deny it was kinda different to with the other guys. She doubted she’d be so fast to have any of the others crash at her place, and she never really considered kissing any of them... well, there was that one time with Bobby but that was best forgotten given the mess that came after.

“No,” she told both herself and her cousin eventually, shaking her head in the negative. “No, this is crazy,” she declared, but Debbie wouldn’t hear it.

“Penelope Jane Franklin, you look me in the eye and you tell me that you’re not even a little bit in love with Brendan Dorff,” she challenged her.

With a sigh, PJ made a big deal of turning on the couch to meet the indignant eyes of her younger cousin. She took a breath and opened her mouth to speak... but no words came out. She could do this, of course she could. She wasn’t in love with Brando, that was crazy talk, but if that was true, why couldn’t she say it?

“Oh my God!” she gasped, when words finally fell from her lips, realisation dawning on her now pale face.

Debbie smiled triumphantly.

“And she knocks it outta the park.”


	4. Hitting A Home Run

PJ could not sleep. It didn’t matter how many times she turned over, or fluffed her pillows or anything, her bed just refused to be comfortable and after several hours of tossing and turning she felt as if she were losing her mind! It was two in the morning and the thump of the front door being closed made her sit up fast. Either Debbie had just left, which seemed unlikely at this time in the morning, or somebody just came in.

Slipping out of bed, PJ moved quickly and carefully towards her bedroom door, mindful of what she might find beyond it. In the living room she saw a shadow, and picked up the nearest object with a view to whacking the supposed intruder on the head. She got the surprise of her life as she came out into the room, swinging a lamp over her head, only to have her arm caught by Brendan just before she got a chance to clock him.

“Brando,” she breathed his name, feeling a little shaken by the whole experience. “What are you doing here?” she asked him, suddenly vary aware of the fact she was all but pressed up against him and wearing next to nothing.

He didn’t say anything at first, but the intense look in his eyes as they met her own made PJ swallow hard and forget how to breathe all at once.

“Penelope Jane Franklin,” he said then, “look me in the eye and tell me you’re not at least a little bit in love with me?” he challenged her.

Before she had a chance to even think of a response, nevermind open her mouth and say words, Brendan’s lips were on hers, his arms around her body, pulling her in close, setting her skin on fire with every touch...

The thump of the front door being closed made PJ sit up fast. Maybe Debbie had just left, which seemed unlikely at this time in the morning, she considered before checking the clock and realising it was now past eight. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so very strange for her cousin to have headed back to the hotel, but it seemed weird she wouldn’t say goodbye. All this ran quickly through PJ’s head as she swung her legs out of the bed, getting the weirdest sense of deja vu as she headed for the door. She had dreamt this, hearing the door and thinking maybe she was being burgled or whatever. Out in the living room she had found...

“Brando?” she called, as if she half expected to find him there now.

Of course the apartment turned out to be empty, save for PJ herself and a note propped on the coffee table that bore her name. Sitting down on the edge of the couch, PJ read the few words her cousin had to say:

Peej,  
Figured you’d need some alone time.  
Call me when you’ve fixed things with Brando.  
Debs.

‘Like it’s really that simple,’ she thought to herself as she stood up and felt the strangest sensation.

Her mind replayed the events of her dream one more time and PJ’s hand went subconsciously to her lips. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have a memory to refer to when it came to kissing Brendan. She had two very vivid recollections of his lips on hers, his hands on her body making her feel things no other man in her life ever had. Debbie made her think about it, but it was always true, she’d always been just a little in love with her best friend from college. Scratch that, not just a little, more than that...

Shaking her head, PJ headed back to her bedroom to get dressed. She had to go to work, no matter how screwed up her head felt, and tonight she had that family dinner party thing to attend with Bobby. Putting a hand to her forehead, PJ groaned at the very idea, but comforted herself with the knowledge that with a little luck she’d be able to catch a couple of hours nap time between one thing and the other. Of course, that only mattered if she managed not to dream about her best friend in quite such an erotic fashion as last night. That wasn’t going to do her already mixed up head any good right now.

_Later..._

Debbie was feeling just a little guilty, she realised, as she lay in the tub at her hotel. She knew in her heart she was doing the right thing, helping her cousin PJ and her friend Brando realise their feelings for each other, and moreover finally confess them. Being sneaky and clever had its perks, but telling lies was not Debbie’s favourite thing and that was kind of what she’d done this morning.

Before her cousin was out of bed, Debbie had crept out into the living room and found PJ’s cell phone, sending a brief message to Brando, asking him to come over tonight so they could talk. The clock read 18:45 which meant that within the next fifteen minutes or so, Brando should be at PJ's apartment and perhaps then this whole thing that had been years in the making would finally be figured out. Debbie’s guilt subsided a little at that thought, as she realised she needed to be moving her butt right now, if the rest of the evening was going to go according to plan.

Minutes later, Brendan Dorff let himself into the apartment he often called home and glanced around, surprised to find that PJ was not their to greet him. She was the one that had sent him a message, inviting him to come over and talk. He had almost text back saying he couldn’t make it, coming up with some lame excuse, but avoidance tactics and running away was for kids. He knew he’d been acting weird lately, and no doubt PJ had noticed too, but he couldn’t help it. Ever since he got talking to Debbie the other night, he just couldn’t look at Peej the same way. Now it seemed it was the day of reckoning, and it had the potential to be either a huge success or a huge disaster.

In her room, PJ woke to the sound of the front door closing. She had taken a bath and got really relaxed after work, planning to sleep a couple of hours and get up just in time to fix her hair and get dressed to go out with Bobby tonight. Opening her eyes and checking the clock, she realised her alarm wouldn’t be going off for another fifteen minutes and her friend was not due to come pick her up for another hour or more, so who had just come in?

Getting up off the bed, she tied her robe tighter around her underwear-clad body and crept out into the hall, pushing her hair out of her face as she went. She was half expecting Debbie, and yet in the back of her mind last night’s dream reared its head and came flooding back all the more clearly and vividly when she realised Brendan was standing there before her.

“Brando,” she looked oddly surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?” she asked as they both moved in at the same moment almost colliding in front of the couch.

“You asked me to come over,” he told her, finding it very strange that she didn’t seem to recall it and that she was so underdressed if she knew he was coming around to talk. “You sent me a text,” he reminded her, when she continued to frown.

“No, I...” she began, actually having to think about what she was saying, partly because lack of sleep was fogging her brain, and moreover because she and Brendan were standing just exactly as they had been in the dream she had last night. “I don’t...” She shook her head a little and only found it made her more woozy.

As she seemed to wobble a little without meaning to, her friend reached out to steady her. He’d touched her a million times, most of which he had done without thinking and she had barely noticed the contact. Today was so different, like electric between the two of them, and immediately they felt it both PJ and Brando pulled away.

“This is crazy,” she said to herself as she turned her back on him a moment. “Debbie is so dead when I catch up with her,” she declared moving to walk away.

“You talked to Debbie?” said Brando behind her. “About me? About us?” he checked.

PJ felt so embarrassed as she was forced to admit the truth and turn to face her best friend once again.

“Yeah, kinda.” She nodded, “She just has this idea...”

“That we belong together,” Brando finished for her with a smile. “She told me the same thing, and... PJ, I know we talked about this before and we said it was best if we just stayed friends, but stuff keeps happening, like that kiss a few weeks back, and...”

“And it makes you wonder,” she continued his sentence this time, sure they were both thinking the same thing by now.

If that were the case then there was a chance her cousin had been right all along. Maybe being outside the situation gave Debbie a better perspective on the relationship PJ and Brando had. They stuck to best friends because it was easier, not because it was what either of them really wanted. Jumping into a romance meant risking not just their friendship but the dynamics of their whole group. It was like changing the positions two fielders played and hoping that nobody else would mind, and that you could still win the game.

“Peej, talk to me,” her friend urged her, his hand at her shoulder making her snap out of her thoughts and focus on the here and now. “You think this could work? Because the more I think about it, as scary as it feels to just dive in, I really wanna do it. There’s nobody I’d rather take a risk with than you.”

PJ's smile mirrored his own as they stood close together, contemplating their future a moment. With an overwhelming need inside her to just kiss this guy already, she allowed her fears of what might come to slide away as she slowly nodded her head.

“Okay,” she agreed. “I’m in, if you are,” she agreed, not getting a chance to say another word or even process what was happening before Brando swept her up in his arms and kissed her.

It was such an exhilarating feeling, one PJ was sure she would never tire of. Somehow it didn’t feel weird kissing her best friend, it felt like the most natural thing in the world, as she revelled in the feeling of Brando’s arms around her and his lips on hers. Maybe later they’d talk some more, and yeah, it might get awkward and embarrassing and all, but it’d be worth it. This time they were going to make this happen.

* * *

Bobby raised his fist to knock on PJ's apartment door, only to stop just short of actually completing the action when he heard his name called behind him.

“Hey, Bobby!”

It was Mike that come bounding up the stairs to greet him, Kenny just a step or two behind

“Look at you, Mr Fancy Pants,” he joked at the sight of his buddy in a smart suit and holding a red rose in his hand.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asked, a little confused since Poker night was yesterday, and surely the guys remembered he was taking PJ out tonight.

“We went over to Crowley's to ask Debbie for a decision on whether she would rather go out with me, or my less than sensitive friend here?” Kenny explained with an amused smile at his own words.

“Yeah, but the beautiful Ms MacIntyre isn’t working tonight, and we don’t actually know which hotel she’s staying at,” Mike went on to explain. “So we came over to ask PJ, since she’s not so much answering her cell.”

“I might know the reason for that,” said a voice, causing all three guys to look around and see a beautiful blonde appearing up the stairs in a long flowing red dress.

All jaws dropped at the sight of her, not least because they had by now realised that it was Debbie they were staring at. Sure, she was a hottie before, but dressed up to the nines like this, she was looking so out of their league it was untrue, except maybe Bobby, she could look good on his arm. Of course, that was the point they were soon to realise.

“Debbie, what’s going on?” asked Bobby as she cleared the top step, grateful for the hand he offered her given the awkward climb she’d just had in her stiletto heels.

“More important questions first!” Mike cut in, practically shoving his friend aside and filling Debbie’s line of sight with himself and Kenny both. “Debbie, question for you, which one of us do you wanna go out with tonight?” he asked with an enormous grin.

The poor girl looked flummoxed a moment, forcing an awkward smile as she glanced between the two of them, and finally over at Bobby.

“Um, hate to break this to you guys but... I’m here for him,” she said, pointing his way and making Mike and Kenny stare in comic fashion. “PJ can’t make it tonight,” she explained, before her supposed date had a chance to ask what was going on for a second time in as many minutes. “I was hoping it’d be okay if I was your date instead?” she said, an almost shy and nervous look on her face as she faced him now.

“Well, you certainly look the part,” he admitted with a smile, unable to deny she was a beautiful woman, and besides if PJ was now otherwise engaged it wasn’t like he couldn’t accept Debbie’s offer. “Okay, let’s go,” he said, offering her his arm which she gratefully accepted, “but you are going to have to tell me exactly what happened tonight with PJ and everything,” he said as they descended the stairs.

Mike and Kenny were left to stare as their friend disappeared with the girl they had honestly expected would be on the arm of one of them tonight. Sometimes life was just unfair.

“So... Crowley's to get wasted?” Mike suggested, seemingly decidedly chipper despite the turn of events, as he slapped his friend on the shoulder.

“Oh, yeah,” Kenny eagerly responded, as they made for the stairs.


	5. Batting A Thousand

“So, how are things going with you and Brando?” asked Stephanie in her sing-songy tone, a wide smile on her face as she and PJ took their coffee and sat down at a nearby table together.

“It’s good,” PJ replied, almost embarrassed by the attention to her new relationship, evidenced by the way she ducked her head and pushed her hair behind her ear.

“Good?” her friend echoed. “It’s been almost two weeks and all you can say is it’s good?” she asked incredulously. “I want details!” she urged her. “I turn my back, go out of town for a few days, and I come back to find my two best friends not only hooked up but are boyfriend and girlfriend? It’s time to dish the dirt, girl!”

PJ wasn’t the type that embarrassed easily, but she could feel the blush rising in her cheeks now as she looked away, unable to meet her friends gaze. It still felt kind of weird, talking about Brando as a boyfriend rather than just a best friend.

“There’s no dirt, Steph,” she insisted. “I mean, it’s going well... _really_ well,” she amended, unable to help it or shift the grin from her face. “It is so great that we finally took this chance, and... and I just cannot stop smiling,” she admitted with a chuckle of laughter that sounded ridiculous to her own ears.

“I see that,” agreed Stephanie, “and I love it!” she enthused, clapping her hands like an overexcited child just from hearing and seeing that her friend was so happy. “You guys are so in love, it’s beautiful.” She grinned, that expression fading a moment later when she spoke again. “Best friends to lovers, why couldn’t that happen to me?” she asked, a pout taking over her lips as she picked up her coffee looking equal parts grumpy and thoughtful.

“Because we are your two best friends and we’re already dating each other?” offered PJ as the simple answer to that easy question.

“Oh, yeah.” Steph nodded, the penny dropping a moment later as she sipped her drink, and once again thought about how unfair it was that her love life couldn’t be as happy as those of others, like PJ, right now.

“I’m just so glad Debbie came to visit like she did,” said PJ, contemplating her own coffee that still seemed a little too hot. “If not for her giving us the push we needed, I don’t know how long me and Brando would have gone on dancing around each other the way we were,” she admitted with a shake of her head.

“God bless that girl!” agreed Stephanie, over-the-top as ever in her declaration. “Does she really have to leave tonight? I’m gonna miss the goodbyes, ‘cause I have a date!”

“Yeah, she’s already taken way more time away from work and everything than she should,” said PJ with a sigh, clearly not happy about her cousin having to go away again so soon. “It’s sad because I really got used to having her around, y’know?”

“You’re not the only one,” Steph reminded her. “How do you think Bobby will take it? I mean, those two seem pretty together whenever I seem them.”

“I know,” her friend agreed.

It was so strange to think that when Bobby had first started hanging out with the group, PJ had thought perhaps she and him would make a pair. They had a couple of ‘moments’ if you could call them that, but at the end of the day, Bobby had one definite flaw in PJ’s eyes - he wasn’t Brando. No guy was ever going to be as right for her as her now-boyfriend was, of that she was certain.

As for Debbie and Bobby, they certainly seemed to get along really well, having been out almost every night they were both free to do so, and always returning from each date with smiles and laughter. PJ had worried she would spoil things by telling Debs what happened in the beginning with herself and Bobby but her cousin just laughed it off. The past was whatever to her, right now she was having a good time and that was what mattered. She just seemed so genuinely thrilled to have finally gotten PJ and Brendan together, and her cousin couldn’t appreciate the help any more if she tried.

“Peej!” Steph called for her attention when she got too thoughtful (again) and floated off on her own cloud somehow.

“I’m sorry,” she apologised as she snapped out of her trance. “I was just thinking... Y’know I think Bobby might be okay with Debbie leaving. He can’t be more hurt than Mike and Kenny were by the rejection.”

“Oh, those boys have to get over themselves already,” said Stephanie definitely. “No woman wants a desperate man... especially one like Kenny,” she all but spat, making PJ laugh.

Okay, so Debbie was leaving today, but she still had her best friends all around her and a new boyfriend that she loved so much she could hardly believe it. PJ was a lucky woman in so many ways, she wondered in this moment how she’d ever been anything but happy.

* * *

“So, I guess this is it,” said Debbie as she stood outside the hotel with the gang all waiting to say goodbye.

The cab driver was putting her luggage in the back for her and in a few hours she’d be home. It would seem weird for a while, in just three weeks she’d settled in real well in Chicago with PJ, Brando, Bobby, and all the guys. Happy as she was, of course, this wasn’t home, not anymore. She did have to leave, as tough as that was.

“I wish you weren’t going,” said PJ, as if she’d read her cousins mind.

“Me too,” she agreed, “but they don’t need me at Crowley’s anymore, we got all caught up, and I did my sight-seeing, plus I’m gonna be in so much trouble at work if I take anymore time off.” She rolled her eyes. “Time for me to go.” She shrugged.

“We’re all gonna miss you,” said Mike, as if he were an over-emotional girl, rushing Debbie all of a sudden and hugging her tight.

“Okay.” She chuckled at his dramatics. “Um, it was nice meeting you, Mike,” she said, patting his back.

“And I just want you to know, it’s not just your hotness I’m gonna miss, it’s your sparkling personality too,” he said definitely, after more than once being snapped at by both her and PJ for his chauvinistic comments during this visit.

“Y’know, that woulda meant so much more if you’re hand wasn’t on my ass!” she reprimanded him, but with a smile even when she was socking him in the arm.

“Dude!” Bobby complained, adding a matching bruise to the other arm, whilst Debbie received a much more tasteful hug and goodbye from Kenny, and then from her cousin, Andy.

“See ya, kid,” he said, practically patting her on the head and making the poor woman feel about seven years old, before she moved on to PJ and Brando who stood together, holding hands.

“Guys, you gotta do me a solid and stick at this thing for good, okay?” Debbie told them with a look that proved she meant business. “I mean, I can’t be here all the time to sort your lives you for you, you have to take care of each other from here on out,” she said with a smile.

“You were always my favourite cousin,” replied PJ with a smile as she moved to hug her close. “Thank you so much for making me see sense,” she said more softly near the other girl's ear.

“I didn’t really do anything.” She shook her head as they parted. “Just pointed out something you already should’ve known is all,” she said with a shrug. “Um, is it okay if I hug your boyfriend now, or are you gonna get jealous?” she asked with a playful look that made both PJ and Brendan laugh.

“Go ahead, I think I can trust you,” her cousin said easily, watching two of her favourite people share a friendly goodbye.

“Take care of yourself, Dee Dee,” he told her, planting a quick kiss on her cheek, “and thanks.”

“Don’t thank me,” she said as they parted. “Just take care of my cousin, because if you break her heart? Oh man, are you in trouble,” she told him in such a way that Brando honestly wasn’t sure whether she was serious or kidding.

Moving away towards her cab, PJ encouraged the guys to look away as Debbie said her goodbyes to Bobby which apparently involved one very long, deep kiss.

“Geez, come up for air,” remarked Mike, until PJ forcefully turned his head away from the PDA before them.

“If you ever cross the border, find yourself in my neck of the woods,” said Debbie as she and Bobby finally parted, their arms still around each other, “you call me, right?”

“Promise,” he assured her, before she planted one last kiss on his lips and then pulled out of his arms.

Debbie slid into the back of the cab and instructed the driver she was ready to go.

“It’s been a blast, guys,” she assured them all from the open window. “I’ll see you soon.”

A flood of ‘byes’, ‘take cares’, and ‘see ya soons’ followed from the group of friends and family as the cab moved away from the kerb, with Debbie waving wildly from the back seat. As the guys started talking about heading to Crowleys or maybe going somewhere else to eat first, Brando put his hand on PJ’s shoulder.

“You okay?” he asked, finally tearing her attention away from the retreating cab.

“Sure, yeah.” She smiled, as she turned into his arms and they shared a brief kiss.

“Y’know, I kinda love your cousin Debbie,” he told her, making her frown just a little, at least until he continued. “Only because she made us both see what idiots we were and finally got us to suck it up and be together like this.”

PJ couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Like I said, she’s always been my favourite cousin.” PJ shrugged, leaning in closer to kiss him again.

Debbie turned right around in the taxi cab, peering out through the back window and seeing the figures of her cousin and friend in the distance, wrapped in each others arms. She hadn’t come here with the sole intention of hooking them up, it was kind of like a happy accident that occurred just from her telling people how things were from her point of view. It took an outsiders perspective sometimes to help people figure out what’s right in front of their eyes. Bonus of the happy union of PJ and Brando was that Debbie had spent two thirds of her three-week vacay enjoying the company of one very cute, smart, and funny journalist by the name of Bobby Newman. It had all worked out pretty good.

“I guess you could say I batted a thousand,” she said as she turned around to sit properly in her seat, laughing to herself as she realised how proud PJ would be to hear those words.


End file.
